John F. Simon Jr. - Drawing Your Own Path: 33 Practices at the Crossroads of Art and Meditation

As I prepared to hold a workshop on contemplative drawing at the 2014 Buddhist Geeks Conference, my only concern was how I could best convey my topic to an audience of meditators. I have a lot of experience teaching artists, guiding them toward the source of their creativity, and helping them find their motivation for making things. I also maintain a regular drawing practice that is my own path to meditation. However, for this group, I felt like I had to approach the topic in the opposite way, asking experienced meditators from a variety of traditions to start with mindfulness and then examine what arose as they made drawings.

As the workshop got underway, I asked the participants to pick up pencils and begin to freely make marks. When I invited everyone to notice resistance, the so-called inner critic, there were a few quiet gasps. Some people hadnt been able even to begin. Being with so many experienced meditators was an exciting moment, and I felt like wed found the first edge to work with. The workshop kept going and everyone completed a variety of practicesmany of which are described in this bookand to my delight, the resonance was strong and the feedback was warm. I had known the contemplative and creative paths were compatible, but when I worked with this group I was amazed at how closely the practices and teachings aligned. The connections I made that day showed me that a wide variety of people could understand a mindful drawing practice, and I felt an obligation to share how this practice can enrich the creative life.

The books seven chapters lay out the components of a path that I began to follow unknowingly, finally woke up to, and still follow today, over sixteen years of daily practice. The method I describe works for me in visual art but it was tested in a new context as I shifted to writing this book. Along the way I encountered more than one inner critic blocking my words. I took my own advice: I went back to first principles, followed my breath, stayed in the moment, allowed words to arise, and I found my way through.

The first four chapters introduce various forms of making, and the practices involve a lot of drawing. I describe a variety of ways to draw and I imagine that you will try them all; but for your main practice, you will probably settle on one style that works best for you. Or maybe youll just continue the way you already draw but find a way to incorporate mindfulness. You might be like me and continually practice everything, sometimes in the same drawing. Doing creative work every day is whats important, not the style you choose.

will help you begin choosing materials and will offer the first lessons in what to notice as you draw, covering the first combinations of mindfulness and mark-making.

s improvisational drawing method offers something similar to an open-awareness style of practice, learning to be open to whatever wants to be drawn on the page.

shifts us into an insight style of meditation. We learn to read our drawings by turning our attention inward and thinking about what is being transmitted both consciously and unconsciously. We practice freely, making up stories and trying to explain our work as a means of revealing the identities we cling to. The common thread is not a single way of thinking but learning how creativity facilitates insight.

In leads us from the studio into the outside world, stresses the necessity of sharing our creative work with others, and discusses how creative practice integrates into ones daily life.

Each chapter is illustrated with drawings made using the practices I describe in the book. I create these kinds of artworks every day by sitting down, not knowing, and allowing whatever happens to appear on the page.

This book will guide your steps, but there is no way to make a good drawing by simply reading about drawingjust as you cant prepare a delicious meal from reading a cookbook. To learn to cook, you have to go in the kitchen, chop, mix, and season; to understand drawing, you have to draw. Among the chapters I include thirty-three hands-on practices, real things for you to do with pencil and paper. What you experience when drawing cannot be conveyed in words. Yes, I tell some amusing stories and give my theories about what is going on as you practice, but it is only by picking up a pencil, setting your intention, and doing the practices that you will see what I mean. I promise there is something amazing to discover.

John F. Simon Jr.

Discerning the Rules
02.22.1999

With the crowd at my art opening thinning and heading to the after-party, hors doeuvres finished, compliments paid, big sales closed, and the staff starting to unwind, a visitor to the gallery approached and began to tell me about how strongly he reacted to the work. Fred was a software engineer with a flair for graphics and always wanted to make art; he loved visiting art galleries and museums but couldnt decide if he was going to be an artist. At present, he had no desire to switch careers since he was in high demand and well paid as a programmer. Knowing there would never be enough time to devote to making art, he disparaged initiating his own creative projects since he was sure his beginners flailing would be a waste of time. He was looking for me to give him a reason to justify spending more time on a growing passion that could yield no predictable professional results. Maybe he thought I knew a secret, because at some point he stopped talking and asked me directly, If I want to make a good drawing, do you have any tips for how I should go about it?